I was very unhappy with the first night at Kimpton’s:
After this incident, I asked for the hotel’s manager address, and emailed him a complaint. Still angry, I looked for executives in Kimpton chain, and found Niki Leondakis, the hotel’s COO. The only way I could reach out to her was through a form in their site.
I hate these forms. They are not personal, and make me feel like I am in a test or something.
Quick twitter search revealed her twitter user name. So I sent a message addressed to her (@), stating that I was very unhappy with their service. Less than an hour later she replied me, followed me and sent me her contact details using direct message. From that point onward things went smoothly with the hotel staff and we reached a resolution for the weekend incident. Only later the hotel’s twitter team (yes, they have something like that) reached out.
The fact that an executive from the company was involved in resolving the situation, and that I had direct connection to her, improved my overall views on this hotel.
Another place you can’t leave
Negative Example – Roger Smith Hotel
Yes, I praised them in the past, but recently they turned bad. In the last trip I tried reaching out for them several times on Twitter without success.
Conclusions
1. Twitter can save your public image and increase customer satisfaction if used right – Niki’s Twitter responses turned me from an unsatisfied customer to a one writing this post.
2. Once your are in, you can’t go out – Roger Smith’s past twitter activity make their customer expect them to be responsive on this platform. When they stopped being responsive, they caused disappointment more than anything else, bigger than if they weren’t active at all on twitter.
What are your customer related Twitter experiences?
Kfir, Just came across this and want to reach out. Very sorry to hear that we ( Roger Smith Hotel) missed communication from you. It is obviously our intention to personally and quickly respond to any inquiries via twitter or any other type of contact from our friends/guests. I want to thank you for bringing it up in your blog, without knowing we had a miss there is no way of correcting it in the future. Again we are sorry for any confusion form our twitter account and we look forward to keeping up with you in the future. Brian
Kfir Pravda
thanks all for your comments. @Hanan - yes, they sure do have work ahead, but they were responsive in a higher level. @Oren - there is nothing that I hate more than forms @Delaney - Zapos are very advanced in this area.
I had a good experience on Twitter with Zappo's. Had ordered shoes that didn't fit and were scuffed. Mentioned this on Twitter and heard from the CEO within minutes giving me a number to call to fix the situation.
Perfect example of how best to track results of social media interaction.
The fact that Niki Leondakis is on Twitter isn't what made you decide to stay at the hotel. But once things didn't go as expected, her presence on Twitter corrected the problem. That's where the value is. Listening to and Exceeding customer expectations.
Very good post, hopefully it will wake up businesses as to how they should utilize the social media tools that are out there and available to them. Oh. and eliminate those annoying forms.
Twitter and Brands – Once You’re in, You Can’t Go Out!
Brands using Twitter should know – It is a double edge sword. Once you are in, you can’t go out.
Positive Example – Kimpton Hotel
I was very unhappy with the first night at Kimpton’s:
After this incident, I asked for the hotel’s manager address, and emailed him a complaint. Still angry, I looked for executives in Kimpton chain, and found Niki Leondakis, the hotel’s COO. The only way I could reach out to her was through a form in their site.
I hate these forms. They are not personal, and make me feel like I am in a test or something.
Quick twitter search revealed her twitter user name. So I sent a message addressed to her (@), stating that I was very unhappy with their service. Less than an hour later she replied me, followed me and sent me her contact details using direct message. From that point onward things went smoothly with the hotel staff and we reached a resolution for the weekend incident. Only later the hotel’s twitter team (yes, they have something like that) reached out.
The fact that an executive from the company was involved in resolving the situation, and that I had direct connection to her, improved my overall views on this hotel.
Another place you can’t leave
Negative Example – Roger Smith Hotel
Yes, I praised them in the past, but recently they turned bad. In the last trip I tried reaching out for them several times on Twitter without success.
Conclusions
1. Twitter can save your public image and increase customer satisfaction if used right – Niki’s Twitter responses turned me from an unsatisfied customer to a one writing this post.
2. Once your are in, you can’t go out – Roger Smith’s past twitter activity make their customer expect them to be responsive on this platform. When they stopped being responsive, they caused disappointment more than anything else, bigger than if they weren’t active at all on twitter.
What are your customer related Twitter experiences?
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